I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep.
The prophet has no more to say to the shepherds, but he has now a message to deliver to the flock. God had ordered him to speak tenderly to them, and to assure them of the mercy he had in store for them.
Commenting on Ezekiel 34:17-31
And I will set up one shepherd over them,.... Or governor, as the Targum; an excellent one of a thousand, the only one; in comparison of whom others are not to be named; for though there are under shepherds, as magistrates and ministers of the word, he is the principal one; that is, Christ, called the good Shepherd, the great Shepherd, and the chief Shepherd...
After the restoration from Babylon, the Jews were delivered in some degree from the oppression, not only of foreigners, but also of their own great people (Neh. 5:1-19). The full and final fulfilment of this prophecy is future.